Music instead of missiles

While taking Bungee, my airedale terrier for his evening walk a short while ago I heard lovely sounds coming from the Music Room in the Hadassah / Parker-Edelstein Music Center and found Boris , our music director accompanying 2 lovely "Naale" girls from Kfar Silver who are among the 50 students who were evacuated from their youth village and have found refuge at Shfeyah from the missile attacks in the South during the past 2 weeks. Alisha and Masha , 11th grade students from Russia who have been in Israel for only a year and a half were singing Israeli songs with some of our students during their evening free time. Instead of the sounds of sirens and bombs exploding they were enjoying the Shfeyah " Sounds of Music" , surrounded by their own counselors and Shfeyah staff who have volunteered to make their experiences during this war, bearable and memorable. They are studying English and Mathematics in our school along with our 11th and 12th grade classes in preparation for their Bagrut ( matriculation ) exams this month and in February and participate in village activities during the afternoons and evenings. Our students have also made the small, but nevertheless meaningful sacrifice of moving out of their own rooms and sharing friends' rooms in order to make space for the Kfar Silver students until the war is over and it is safe for them to return to the South.
Boris proudly introduced the girls and showed me the new recording studio, piano, guitars and amplifiers which were recently purchased with Hadassah funds for our music program which you found for us several months ago. We hope and pray that the sounds of war will soon be replaced with sounds of families safe in their homes and the rebuilding of Gaza free from the terrorism of Hamas and attacks from Israel. During these hard times music often makes things bearable. Thanks for being our untiring advocate and friend and helping to make these things possible.

With love, on behalf of us all at Shfeyah ,
Lauren